Inside the Braves with MLB.com's Mark Bowman

Chipper returns to the lineup

When Chipper Jones said that he experienced some back spasms on Sunday afternoon, there was little reason to think he could return to the Braves lineup just 24 hours later. But after taking some swings and grounders during batting practice on Monday afternoon, the veteran third baseman told manager Bobby Cox that he was ready to resume playing.

Jones was back in the lineup for Monday afternoon’s game against the Padres at PETCO Park. He had been sidelined since he exited Thursday night’s game against the Cubs with a strained right oblique muscle.

When Jones arrived at the park on Monday morning, he took some pain-free swings in the indoor batting cages. A couple hours later, he went through his normal batting practice exercises and determined that his back and oblique were strong enough for him to begin playing again.

Jones, who received a cortisone shot on Thursday night, said after Sunday afternoon’s loss to the Giants that he felt the need to return to the lineup as soon as possible. The Braves had lost three of four dating back to Thursday.

I think Chipper had the Lincecum flu yesterday. He’s trying to keep his lifetime avg above .300 and the Tim Lincecums of the league don’t assist in that process. It’s about time for Chipper to man up and play some baseball. I don’t want to hear about the next time he sprains his whine muscle.

UGA, you need to stick to tailgate parties in Athens. Medlen, is gonna be fine and Schafer is the only CF who could hit his weight that we have had in the last 5 years. This game is just a bust. Isn’t there a 10 run rule we can exercise? I am so sick of these nut job schedules, now we have an off day in the middle of a west coast trip, WTF?

Please go out and get Jermaine Dye to play 1B, this year has been one of the worst I have seen in a long time, the way the Braves are (not) playing a high school team could beat them, where is all that passion, pride and power they were supposed to have. I hate to say it but the Braves are still just an embarassment. the Padres are 2-4 and still a better team than the Braves. im glad i didn’t pay for a ticket to this game.

UGA, you need to stick to tailgate parties in Athens. Medlen, is gonna be fine and Schafer is the only CF who could hit his weight that we have had in the last 5 years. This game is just a bust. Isn’t there a 10 run rule we can exercise? I am so sick of these nut job schedules, now we have an off day in the middle of a west coast trip, WTF? Oh, and this isn’t a NEW opinion

I bought mlb.tv this year to watch the braves, but today i had to turn it off. The Braves so far have not been very motivated with all the pre-season hype.They can’t hit a lick and there defense is terrible.Jo Jo Reyes is terrible and needs to be sent down or released, bring up Proctor as soon as possible. A very disappointing night for the Braves and there fans!!!

In these times of uncertain change, it is gratifying to know that I can watch the Atlanta Braves play the same kind of baseball that they have for the past 3 years (at least). I am so glad that before the first game Chipper assured the fans that the pitching was solid, the team hitting would produce runs, and the defense was improved. I guess that is why they now have a record of 3 and 4.

… and there are 155 games left, 4summerfun. One hundred fifty-five games left. The Yankees had the exact same record after 7 games last year… and their fourth loss was a shellacking at the hands of Tampa Bay. We know, sadly, how last year ended for them.
To your point, however, one player I’m not seeing any motivation from is McLouth. Not much anyway. It’s like wherever you bat him, he’s not hitting. High OBP or not, he’s gotta use the stick.

Haha, I love how the Braves lose by 15 and all the sudden these “fans” show up out of nowhere! Get rid of this guy, sign that guy, we don’t spend enough money, etc. Give it a rest. The season is 162 games, not 7. Calm down, enjoy the off day tomorrow and come back Wednesday and pull for our Braves! By the way UGA…go Gamecocks!

The record at this point doesn’t bother me. It’s how terrible we suddenly look. Offense and defense have really been pathetic. Can’t get anybody one and hit ahead of Prado, can’t protect McCann, and the rest of the lineup has been weak and inconsistent. The defense really looks shaken a bit.

I’d like to see Diaz bat leadoff now and see if he can provide a spark and get on ahead of Prado. Platoon Melky and McLouth in center. McCann needs to be protected so he can produce so I’d like to see Heyward move up to 5 and back Glaus down. Jo Jo has to go but Proctor is not ready. Let’s give Kimbrel his chance. My lineup: Diaz, Prado, Chipper, McCann, Heyward, Escobar, Glaus, McLouth/Cabrera.

Wow, good thing most of the people that are posting on here don’t manage the team. If that were the case you guys would trade a player every week. This isn’t college football where one loss means the end of your season. I guess now we just know how Cubs fans felt after game 1. Yes, it stinks that we are being handled the first week or so of the season, but there is a LOOOONG way to go. I agree with bill that this schedule must have been compiled by a drunk monkey, but you have to play with the hand that you are dealt. I think that the best thing for the Braves to do at this point is keep a professional approach. There’s no need to circle the wagons yet. Has Glaus struggled, absolutely. Did our best pitcher (Jurrjens) get knocked around by the Padres, yep. Is Chipper hurt, yes (shocker there). We haven’t even played enough games to be in a real slump yet. Baseball has, and always will be, a game of patience. Let’s wait until at least late June before we start pointing fingers and demanding trades.

There are just a few things I hope for:
1) Heyward doesn’t listen to anything TP says.
2) Schafer gets well
3) Lowe finds the plate again
5) Glaus finds his swing
6) Chip figures out how to beat the test again
7) Wagner spends less time on interviews and more getting outs.
8) Diaz gets to play, for crying out loud!!!!!

the only reason why fans are already throwing caution to the wind is because, if you remember last year, we had such a bad first half. we then went on a run where we were in contension for the wild card but, fell short – primarily because of our poor first half. also, looking at our schedule, this month, it is teams like SD that we need to beat up on since we are playing the likes of COL, PHIL, and STL. i guess we just dont want a repeat of last year…that’s all.

Dylan, that’s the worst use of the idiom “throw caution to the wind” that I’ve ever heard.
But yeah, we shouldn’t be getting our *sses handed to us by one of the meekest teams in the NL.
And brvs66.. that’s why Bobby left Jo Jo in. Why tire out another reliever when you’re getting beaten by over 10 runs? Where did all these horrible fans come from anyway? Did the Padres unleash a plague of locusts upon us for coveting Adrian Gonzalez during the off-season? Even Mark doesn’t post in his own blog anymore.

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